Sports

Troubled Arsenal Seeks Champions League Boost

Published

14 years ago

August 24, 2011

Arsenal will today take a 1-0 lead to Italy for the second leg of their UEFA Champions League play-off against Udinese.

Arsene Wenger’s men overcame the departure of Cesc Fabregas to Barcelona, and the absence of numerous key players, to take an early lead in the first leg, thanks to Theo Walcott. However, Udinese were unlucky not to nab an away goal and will be hopeful of turning the tide at home, especially as the English outfit’s fragile confidence took another hit at the weekend when they went down 2-0 at home to Liverpool.

That result meant the Gunners have now failed to score in their first two league games of a season for the first time in 42 years, while their hopes of stopping Udinese from scoring have been hit by a back injury to Laurent Koscielny. After the Liverpool reverse, a downbeat Wenger described the Udinese return as being “of big importance,” but it is difficult to know where the Gunners would go next if they fail to qualify for the group stages.

Robin van Persie and Samir Nasri are available again after suspension, but Nasri has moved his transfer to the Etihad Stadium of Manchester City.

Udinese do not begin their domestic campaign until next weekend, so Francesco Guidolin’s side have been able to focus all their energy on beating Arsenal and returning to the Champions League group stages for the first time since 2005/06.

Meanwhile, Bayern Munich who dream of going all the way to a final which will be held in their own Allianz Arena, have more than one foot in the group stages after beating FC Zurich 2-0 in last week’s first leg. The Bavarians head to Switzerland further boosted by a superb performance in beating Hamburg 5-0 in the Bundesliga at the weekend.

Lyon prepared for the second leg of their tie with Rubin Kazan with an underwhelming 1-1 draw at Brest, but Remi Garde’s side impressed in their 3-1 win over the Russians last Tuesday. Rubin, who lie 10 points behind Russian league leaders CSKA Moscow with just nine games to go, have considerable selection problems just now, although new Paraguayan signing Nelson Valdez could feature.

Sports

CAFCL: Finidi Laud Players Over Impressive Performance

Published

14 hours ago

October 1, 2025

The Tide

Rivers United FC of Port Harcourt head coach, Finidi George, has lauded his players (boys) after they defeated Les Aigles du Congo 1-0 in the second leg of preliminary round of the CAF Champions League (CAFCL).

He admitted that the game was a perfect display of football artistry from both sides but believe that his players will grow stronger against Black Bulls in the second preliminary round in Mozambique.

Finidi said this on Sunday shortly after his side saw off Les Aigles du Congo 1-0 at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium, in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.

This feat qualified the pride of Rivers State for the second round of the preliminary stage by 1-0 goal aggregate, as their opponents forced them to goalless draw in Congo.

“It was not far from a perfect display, my players to get the job done by getting the only goal of the game. We know it has not been easy, but we’ll build on this win.

“The most important thing is that we have scaled through this round and now we will focus on our next opponent” Finidi said.

He noted that the players were nervous in the first half and missed key opportunities to seal the tie early.

” We had chances, but there were lapses and mistakes, during first half break we advised them to calm down, in the second half, we also created more opportunities but could not convert the chances as they come ” he said.

Finidi also explained the inexperience of his squad, with several players making their continental debut.

“Most of my players have not played at this level before, so the nervousness was expected. In every game, they’ll gain confidence. I’m not worried, they will get better,” he stated.

The former Super Eagles Coach assured fans that Rivers United are ready for the Mozambican champions and make a statement.

“We’ll prepare well for the Black Bull. It’s going to be tough but this win gives us something to build on” he added.

Rivers United will travel to Maputo for the first leg of the second preliminary on October 17, 2025 before returning to Uyo for the return leg where the winner over the two legs will make it into the group stage of the CAFCL.

By: Kiadum Edookor

Sports

Umuahia Hosts Africa Para- Badminton Championship

Published

14 hours ago

October 1, 2025

The Tide

A badminton fever has gripped Umuahia with the arrival of over 150 athletes and 60 officials from 14 countries for the maiden Abia International Para-Badminton and All-African Badminton Championship.

The championship will run from today to October 12 at the International Conference Centre, Umuahia. On the ground for the championship are athletes from Brazil, Peru, Egypt, Cameroon, Tunisia, Nigeria, Mauritius and Rwanda. They arrived on Sunday.

Some of the other countries were expected in the Abia State capital yesterday. Speaking on the championship, yesterday, Abia State Commissioner for Youth and Sports Development, Nwobilor Ananaba, said the chief host, Governor Alex Otti, has mobilised facilities and the personnel to ensure a successful event.

Speaking through the Special Assistant to the Governor on Sports, Raymond Chima Ukwa, said: “We have the best mats, playing mats, especially the wheelchair playing mats, which is the first of its kind in West Africa.

“If you go around, you’ll see the hall and the preparation that has been made to ensure that people have an equitable world-class playing field.” Thrilled by Governor Otti’s support for the competition, Badminton Federation of Nigeria (BFN) President, Francis Orbih, said that, besides making all the necessary arrangements that will ensure a successful hosting of the events, “we will have a Para-Badminton workshop for coaches and players.

“Nigeria is doing well, Abia is doing well, and we want to do better to improve on where we are, which is why all these have been put together by Governor Otti.”

Sports

FIFA U20: Flying Eagles Narrowly Loss to Norway

Published

14 hours ago

October 1, 2025

The Tide

Nigeria’s Flying Eagles began their campaign at the 24th FIFA U20 World Cup with a narrow 1–0 loss to Norway on Monday, despite creating several opportunities to level the game.

Norway took the lead in the 9th minute after being awarded a controversial penalty. The Flying Eagles pressed for an equaliser but were denied two penalty claims in the second half.

Kparobo Arierhi came close in the 47th minute when his shot drifted wide with the goalkeeper beaten, while Tahir Maigana struck the upright in the 63rd minute.

Nasiru Salihu’s rising effort in the 71st minute also went narrowly over the bar, drawing gasps from the crowd.

Seven minutes from time, Maigana again tested Norway with a long-range strike that went just wide as Nigeria continued to pile on the pressure.

Despite their dominance, the Flying Eagles could not find the breakthrough and now turn their attention to Thursday’s clash against Saudi Arabia in their second group match.